OBAMA & SOLAR EXECS SAY IT – DON’T LOOK BACK TO OIL, LOOK AHEAD TO NEW ENERGY

Only the strong in Silicon Valley survived the bursting of the IT bubble at the end of the Electronic 90s. Because they know they are survivors, they believe in themselves and in their own power. In recent years, they have taken on the energy and climate change issues. They believe it is the Next Big Thing and they believe their technologies are the solution.

T.J. Rodgers, CEO, Cypress Semiconductor: "We can make a lot of money by solving the energy problem…"

Their technologies come down to electrons, the stuff they have always been best at handling, electrons that carry information in “smart technology” and electrons that carry energy in solar power.

When oil prices were high last summer, Silicon Valley was buzzing with excitement. High power prices meant New Energies and Energy Efficiencies would more quickly become cost competive. Like on Wall Street and Main Street, the crash went unforeseen on Electron Avenue.

With the current recession, oil prices, which have historically fluctuated wildly, are now very low. The Silicon Valley survivors are anxious.

Several held a press conference Monday to remind the world low oil prices shouldn’t mean a return to SUVs and business-as-usual.

At the same time, President-elect Obama was introducing the people he has chosen to help him create a New Energy economy.

President-elect Obama: “All of us know the problems that are rooted in our addiction to foreign oil. It constrains our economy, shifts wealth to hostile regimes, and leaves us dependent on unstable regions. These urgent dangers are eclipsed only by the long-term threat of climate change, which, unless we act, will lead to drought and famine abroad, devastating weather patterns, and terrible storms on our shores, and the disappearance of our coastline at home.

“For over three decades, we’ve listened to a growing chorus of warnings about our energy dependence. We’ve heard president after president promise to chart a new course. We’ve heard Congress talk about energy independence, only to pull up short in the face of opposition from special interests.

“We’ve seen Washington launch policy after policy, yet our dependence on foreign oil has only grown, even as the world’s resources are disappearing. This time has to be different. This time we cannot fail, nor can we be lulled into complacency simply because the price at the pump has for now gone down from $4 a gallon.

“To control our own destiny, America must develop new forms of energy and new ways of using it. And this is not a challenge for government alone; it’s a challenge for all of us…”

The Silicon Valley CEOs had essentially the same message. The executives talked about the cost of fighting wars for oil and providing protection for oil and paying off the medical bills for the harm oil’s pollution inflicts, describing such costs as uncalculated taxes on doing business. Solar energy and smart technology, they said, echoing Obama, will make it possible to move away from fossil fuel dependency and its high hidden costs.

Rodgers, the Cypress CEO, brandished a radio-powered thermostat that allows central control of an office building’s power consumption: "We need about 10,000 ideas like this."

Rodgers knows plenty about game-changing ideas. Some years ago he wrote a personal check to save a cash-strapped company named SunPower, now a solar energy industry leader whose 2008 sales topped $2 billion.

The executives acknowledged that neither solar energy nor smart technology was a replacement for transportation fuels but they insisted the reductions in energy use that will come with widespread adoption of New Energy and Energy Efficiency will change the nature of U.S. energy consumption.

click to enlarge

Don’t Forget About Solar Energy; Oil may be cheap at the pump, but it still costs the U.S. $750 billion annually to import.
Ed Sperling, December 15, 2008 (Forbes)
and
Transcript: Obama News Conference Announcing Environment and Energy Team
December 15, 2008 (CQ Transcriptwire via Clips & Comments)

WHO
Actel (John East, CEO); Cypress Semiconductor (T.J. Rodgers, CEO); National Semiconductor; SunPower

WHAT
Both Silicon Valley executives and President-elct Obama stressed the importance of not turning away from building New Energy and back to oil dependency as prices temporarily dip again.

The solar industry is aiming to generate 10% of U.S. power by 2025. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- The Silicon Valley execs did the joint press conference December 15.
- It was noted that oil prices may dip in the short term but will increase as oil supplies peak over the coming 1-to-2 decades.
- 8 years ago this month T.J. Rodgers’ personal check prevented SunPower from making layoffs This year, SunPower’s sales topped $2 bilion.

WHERE
The companies are based in Silicon Valley and addressed U.S. policy.

The U.S. has room to improve. (click for the entire Global Green Report Card)

WHY
- Even with oil once again very cheap, the economics of solar energy remain undeniable and inevitable, racing toward grid parity.
- The executives see the costs of importing oil as an indirect tax.
- The executives disagreed on how much government involvement is needed.
- Rodgers and SunPower expect the cost of solar energy-generated electricity to reach grid parity within a few years.

View the full SPWR chart at Wikinvest

QUOTES
- John East, CEO, Actel: "When you think of it in terms of four bailouts over the next four years, that's a lot of money…Wars fought for oil are worth another four bailouts. Add that up and you get eight bailouts, which alone is enough to end the recession."
- T.J. Rodgers, CEO, Cypress Semiconductor: "Americans have not been willing to pay for a lot of this stuff, but they will pay to reduce their PG&E bill…And in the future we will be producing energy with fuel cells. This won't be the kind you have at your home. It will be utility energy that's available 24/7."